There Must Be Another Way
by Elrond's Scribe
Summary: AU. A Civil War trailer react fic. Not related to my All the Days of Our Lives series. Oneshot. Maria Hill shows the Avengers two videos and a clip that showed up in her inbox. Rating for language and, of course, implications of death. MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR CIVIL WAR TRAILERS. I mean it. Do NOT read this if you haven't yet seen the trailers.
**This is a little piece of junk inspired by the Civil War trailers, particularly the last one. I wrote this basically to explore the question "does it have to end this way?"**

 **I've debated putting this up for a number of weeks. I really don't want to be _that girl_ online - the one that always has to publish whatever crap's on her mind.**

 **And no, this has nothing to do with my _All the Days of Our Lives_ series (which I swear I'm still working on!). Or at least not now - at some point I may edit it to bring it in line with my other react fics.**

 **Note: According to the MCU timeline there's almost a month between the date of Ultron's defeat and the date of the final _Age of Ultron_ scenes ("Elevator's not worthy!"). This story would ideally be set during that month.** **Oh, and they're all at Avengers' Tower for the moment while the New Avengers Facility is getting set up.** **Also, I've only put in literally the last couple of seconds from the TV spot, the two expanding shots of each of the teams as they presumably gear up to fight. This story really focuses on the two trailers, though.**

* * *

 _May 16, 2015_

"I got something in my inbox this morning I think you _all_ need to see," said Maria Hill to Steve Rogers when she managed to catch him. "If you wouldn't mind bringing all the Avengers up to my office."

"Look, we're pretty busy right now -" began Steve.

"It won't even be ten minutes, Captain," said Maria.

Half an hour later, Tony Stark was the last Avenger to make his way to the office. When he opened the door and saw all the other Avengers crowded inside, he hesitated.

"Hey, come on in," said Rhodey.

"There are two videos and a clip," said Maria as Tony shrugged and came into the office. "I'll play them for you one at a time. Try not to yell too much."

"Why, what are we watching?" asked Steve suspiciously.

But Maria merely gestured to the large screen on the wall.

The first thing they saw was a room in some abandoned warehouse, and three men inside it. Two of them looked dreadfully familiar - in fact, they looked exactly like Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. The third man was seated in front of some large device, his left arm caught in it. He did not appear to be able to move.

"Who the hell -" muttered Rhodey, looking unnerved.

" _Buck,"_ came the voice of the Captain from the screen (and if it wasn't Steve's voice they'd be damned), and they saw that he was looking anxiously at the man caught in the device. The man looked up, and they saw the now infamous face of the Winter Soldier, James Buchanan Barnes. His long dark hair fell in his face.

"Is that -" the real Steve pointed at the screen.

" _Do you remember me?"_ asked the Steve on the screen.

And Bucky smiled. " _Your mom's name was Sarah,"_ he said in a voice hoarse with disuse, and Sam Wilson (who was next to Steve) glanced over at him. " _You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."_

And the lines of care in onscreen Steve's face melted into a relieved smile.

Tony blinked, but Natasha put a hand over her heart. "Aww," she drawled.

"You _did?_ " asked Bruce of the real Steve in some surprise. But that Avenger had no time to answer him.

" _You're a wanted man,"_ came his voice from the screen, and there came a brief view of some skyscraper before the inside of some important looking building going up in flames, and Tony, who had an eagle's eye for such things, pointed at the screen and said, "Okay, I don't wanna be creepy, but did the UN just -?!"

" _I don't do that anymore,"_ said the voice of Bucky while Sam Wilson stood in the midst of a running crowd of professionally dressed people.

"Ya don't? Good to know," said Clint. The real Steve turned on him in a rage, but was almost immediately distracted by what he was watching.

" _Well, the people who think you did are coming right now,"_ said onscreen Steve, and a number of men in full SWAT-like gear closed in on some building with their weapons drawn.

"Whoa!" gasped the real Steve in alarm; but Tony said, "He's the Winter Soldier. He's cool."

" _And they're not planning on taking you alive,"_ said onscreen Steve as another group of armed men kicked in a door.

And then Bucky (they knew it was Bucky by the red shirt he was wearing) was fighting another team with what seemed to be his bare hands. He leaped from a window at a terrible height and sailed through the air.

"Whaaat!" breathed Sam, but Thor was frowning. "Who is this Buck?" He asked.

"Bucky. James Barnes," said Natasha. "Friend of Cap's. Long story."

And then, as the screen went dark again for a moment, the music started to play.

A helicopter flew over a forbidding, dark sea, and a voice that caused Bruce to stiffen spoke. " _Captain,"_ it said, and a tall elderly man walked through some gate in the New Avengers Facility ("Ross?!" muttered Bruce incredulously). " _While a great many people see you as a hero -"_ Onscreen Steve kicked a man off the top of a bus in a flying leap and stood atop it, earning his actual counterpart a fistbump from Clint. " _\- there are some who'd prefer the term vigilante."_

And now they got a good look at the elderly gentleman's face, obviously talking to the Avengers in some office at the New Avengers Facility. Sam looked grim, and Steve had leaned his head on his hand while Natasha looked rather ill beside him.

"It is him," sighed Bruce, and sank down slightly in his seat.

"What the hell does he think -" the real Steve was beginning angrily.

" _You've operated with unlimited power and no supervision,"_ went on Thunderbolt Ross as they got a brief glimpse of Bucky in some Latin country, and another of Steve looking out from the window of an apartment.

"Supervision?! Are we not the Avengers?" Thor looked furious.

" _That's something the world can no longer tolerate,"_ said Thunderbolt Ross, and the hands of Natasha accepted a book titled _The Sokovia Accords_ (Wanda's stomach flipped, and the real Tony went pale) while the general stood looking on impassively.

"The world or you government bastards?" growled Clint.

"Maybe it doesn't matter," the real Tony looked unusually serious.

Onscreen Steve stared down, perhaps at the book and perhaps at the floor, and behind him stood someone with folded arms that had to be either Rhodey or Sam (probably Sam).

And then Natasha's voice spoke. " _I know how much Bucky means to you,"_ she said as Bucky rode a motorcycle through a low tunnel, his long hair streaming behind him (the real Steve seemed choked). " _Stay out of this one. Please."_ They briefly saw the back of Steve's blond head from above, and then Natasha herself in some public place with a cell phone to her ear. " _You'll only make this worse,"_ she said.

"Make what worse, and for who?" demanded the real Steve.

Onscreen Steve stood leaning against a traffic light, his head covered in a dark blue cap and dark sunglasses over his eyes, and a cell phone to his own ear. " _You saying you'll arrest me?"_ he asked.

"Worst disguise ever," declared Tony, pointing; but the real Steve's eyes had narrowed. "And who's hunting Bucky?" he growled.

" _There will be consequences,"_ said the voice of Thunderbolt Ross, and down in the tunnel Steve and Bucky surrendered to some armed group surrounding them. Steve put his shield on his back (actually in what looked like another place, at least to Wanda).

"What kinda crap -" began Rhodey.

And then Iron Man pushed open two solid, heavy looking doors and strode forward through them. " _Captain,"_ said the voice of Tony Stark, and they saw first Steve in uniform again, and then Tony's face with what looked like a dreadful blackeye. " _You seem a little defensive."_

"Did _I_ do that?!" asked the real Steve.

" _Well, it's been a long day,"_ snapped onscreen Steve, his shield on his arm.

"Looks like it," said the real Tony grimly.

" _If we can't accept limitations,"_ said the voice of Tony as Steve and Sam stood in some building watching other people carry away their official gear. " _We're no better than the bad guys."_

This statement produced various reactions. Bruce, the real Natasha, and the real Tony's faces all wore the look of one plagued by demons; Rhodey looked faintly troubled; the real Steve huffed in disapproval; Sam rubbed his neck; Thor was scowling; and Wanda seemed to be gripping the arm of the ever-serene Vision rather tightly.

" _That's not the way I see it,"_ said Sam's voice even as Bucky picked up one of a number of guns, and Steve clapped him on the shoulder.

" _Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth,"_ said Tony Stark, dressed in a business suit and standing over a seated Steve, who merely looked rather wistful.

"Thanks, Tony," said the real Steve.

"Yeah, doesn't mean I do it," grumbled the real Tony.

Onscreen, Sam jumped off a tall building, spreading his great wings before he reached the ground while his voice said, " _I just want to make sure we consider all our options."_ ("What options?!" the real Sam was muttering.) Steve lay on the ground in some outdoor place, and someone in a helicopter seemed to be shooting at him. " _Cause people that wind up shooting at you usually wind up shooting at me too,"_ went on Sam, who was now sitting with Steve in a bar (both were wearing sunglasses).

"That's true," observed the real Steve.

"Again, these disguises!" huffed Clint at the same moment.

There was a brief glimpse of Sam jumping into the air and kicking two men at once as he spun with the help of his wings. He landed on his knees, folding the wings at exactly the right moment.

"All right, Falcon!" cheered Tony, and Bruce and Rhodey applauded.

" _You know what's about to happen,"_ said Natasha, who was standing in some high place ("No, I don't!" said the real Natasha). Steve went running up to, of all places, the Institute for Infectious Diseases, and burst in through a window. He sent a guard flying across the floor.

"Wait, what'm I doin' there?" the real Steve was murmuring.

" _Do you really want to punch your way out of this?"_ asked Natasha's voice as Iron Man and the War Machine faced Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch.

"What?!" shouted the real Tony. "Why the hell -"

"Where's Thor and Bruce?" asked the real Steve, for indeed neither Thor nor the Hulk had yet been glimpsed.

There was a brief glimpse of Bucky racing across some open space, and another of two small figures running through some large parking lot where many of the vehicles were going up in flames and smoke.

" _What do we do?"_ asked Sam, and there came a view of a tall figure clad in some black body suit. Its black helmet, shaped like the head of a cat, covered its face, and a few bright silver claws adorned its arm and neck.

"Who's that?" the real Tony perked up.

" _We fight,"_ said Steve, and then he was running forward with Clint and Bucky running behind him, Sam and Wanda leaping into the air above. Sam's wings were spread out, and bursts of red energy streamed from Wanda's hands.

"Where are the rest of us?" asked Thor, and "I thought I retired!" protested the real Clint.

And then a number of things went by very fast.

Someone they couldn't quite see kicked Bucky into something; Natasha's body twisted through the air as she knocked somebody over and landed in a crouch; Steve ran after the black-clad figure as he chased Bucky, all three running at impossible speeds ("Who the hell _is_ that?" demanded Sam, as if anyone could answer him); Steve clung to a helicopter with one arm and a rail with another, his teeth clenched as he hung on with all his might ("Whoa!" squawked Clint); Natasha stood on a high place and watched something exploding on a hangar below.

And then Bucky slammed Tony into a wall, his metal hand clawing at the Arc Reactor, and his lips were mouthing some words that made the real Steve gasp and turn white. "Oh, my God," he muttered shakily, glancing at the real Tony with huge eyes.

" _Sorry, Tony,"_ said the voice of Steve, and onscreen he ran through some building, holding up his shield as someone shot at him and the wall crumbled. " _You know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice."_ ("Do what?!" asked the real Steve) Tony, his helmet gone and his face looking stricken (and he still had that blackeye), sat cradling an alarmingly still Rhodey whose Arc Reactor had been ripped from his Suit.

Now it was Rhodey's turn to look haunted. He gulped, his throat bobbing. Tony's face tightened with anxiety.

" _But he's my friend,"_ finished Steve as Bucky looked down.

And then they saw Tony's face inside his helmet, as grim as it was sorrowful. " _So was I."_

"I'm not still?" croaked the real Tony, looking sick.

Onscreen Steve raised his head, and the next instant he and Bucky were going at Tony as hard as they could, the shield flying between them as they fought him. Then the screen went dark.

The real Tony and Steve both looked as if they'd been punched. Tony actually appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack.

"That was just the first video?" asked Bruce, blinking.

Maria tapped the surface of her desk. "That was just the first video. The clip, on the other hand, is only a few seconds long."

The clip was in fact comprised of only two shots.

The first was of Captain America, with the Winter Soldier on his left and with Hawkeye on his right, Scarlet Witch behind him and Falcon at the end, and between Falcon and Hawkeye a man in a red cloth suit with a roundish metal helmet from which little things like antennae stuck up.

"Who's the bug-head guy?" asked Clint.

Then they saw Iron Man, with the Black Widow on his left hand and the black-suited, cat-headed stranger on his right, the Vision hovering behind him and the War Machine on the Widow's other side.

"And who's the cat-head guy?" asked Clint as the screen went blank again.

"Where's Thor and Hulk?" muttered Natasha under her breath.

"Is this a battle to the death?!" demanded Thor.

"Second video," said Maria, and tapped her desk again.

There was a brief shot of a barren winter wasteland. " _This job,"_ said the voice of Steve. " _We try to save as many people as we can."_ ("And sometimes that's not good enough!" said the real Steve.) Someone opened an even bigger, heavier-looking door than they'd seen earlier, and then they saw Bucky in a dark chamber attached to some great device by a number of cords, a multitude of lights shining down on him.

"Where is he if he's not in cryostasis?" asked Bruce cautiously.

" _Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody,"_ said the Captain's voice, and there was a moment of blank before they saw Steve standing in some dark chamber.

"This sounds great already," said the real Tony.

There was another moment of darkness, but the music did not cease.

There was a rather shaky cell phone video of a street in New York blowing up as civilians ran from in front of it. " _New York,"_ said the voice of Thunderbolt Ross.

Bruce passed a hand over his eyes.

An exploding Helicarrier sank into an undersea compartment, burning fragments falling into the sea and the city all around it. " _Washington DC,"_ said Ross to what they now saw was a room full of Avengers in front of a large screen. Sam was staring glumly.

The real Sam sighed.

A mound of rock with buildings on its surface rose into the air, and a piece of it fell into a building on the ground below. " _Sokovia,"_ said Ross.

"What kinda shit -" began Clint angrily.

Little bursts of red began going off around the real Wanda's hands. Her face was white.

Onscreen Wanda shut her mouth and turned her chair away. Steve glanced at her, and then looked sternly back up at Ross. " _Okay, that's enough,"_ he said.

"More than enough!" growled the real Steve.

" _Captain,"_ said Ross. " _People are afraid."_

"Of us?" asked Rhodey in a subdued voice.

A conference room that looked terribly like the UN was meeting or about to meet there went up in flames, and from outside great billows of smoke were visible.

On the ground, a man who might as easily have been African as African-American lay in the dust, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Who's that?" murmured Tony.

" _That's why I'm here,"_ said the voice of Tony Stark, and the shadowy form of Iron Man tumbled from a helicopter and went zooming through the air. Then they saw him in what must have been the private Avengers conference, dressed impeccably as ever. " _We need to be put in check."_

"What?!" cried the real Steve, and "Not an _awful_ idea," mumbled the real Tony at the same time.

Onscreen Steve looked up at his former teammate sharply. Natasha's face was troubled.

" _Whatever form that takes, I'm game,"_ said Tony's voice, and the helicopter flew over the dark sea again. Something huge and circular in shape was rising from the water; a door opened on its surface to admit the helicopter.

"What _is_ that thing?" asked the real Natasha hollowly.

" _I'm sorry, Tony,"_ said Steve's voice, while onscreen Tony stood in the middle of a circle of prison cell-like compartments ("Eh, I dunno if I'm game for all that!" said the real Tony). " _If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it."_ And then they saw him, sitting and looking up sadly but immovably. " _Sometimes I wish I could,"_ he added.

"Your cross to bear," muttered the real Tony.

Onscreen Tony's eyes flashed. " _Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth,"_ he said.

"So why haven't ya?" snapped the real Steve.

"Cause sometimes I actually like you," said the real Tony flatly.

And then Bucky was riding the motorcycle through the tunnel again, the man in the cat-headed suit running after him at an impossible speed, and Steve in full uniform racing desperately to catch the pursuer.

"That cat guy's gotta be an enhanced or gifted," said Natasha.

" _I know we're not perfect,"_ said Steve's voice, and the man in the cat-headed suit sprang from the top of a car and ripped Bucky from the motorcycle, and the two rolled on the ground together ("Statin' the obvious, Nat!" said Clint; but Steve shuddered). " _But the safest hands are still our own."_

"If you say so," muttered Bruce, grimacing.

"I _do_ ," said the real Steve sharply, with a significant look directed at Bruce in particular.

Tony pulled on a band around his wrist, and the red metal of the glove of a Suit folded out over his hand. Next moment he was pushing frantically at Bucky as that Soldier pointed a pistol at his head; it fired into the glove instead, and Tony stared with an unreadable expression.

"He's gonna _shoot_ him?!" squawked Sam. "Is he finishing what his boss started or something?"

Onscreen Steve ran through a high floor in a skyscraper even as someone shot an explosive into it from the side; Bucky pointed a large gun, and the War Machine's Arc Reactor was blasted from the middle of his Suit, and he fell through the open air.

The real Rhodey looked close to throwing up.

Iron Man twisted round mid-flight. " _RHODES!"_ screamed Tony as Rhodey plummeted.

"Cap, I swear to God -" said the real Tony, his hands clenching.

There was an instant of silence, and the screen went blank.

" _I was wrong about you,"_ said the voice of Tony, and on the screen his gloved hand pulled War Machine's mask from his helmet. Rhodey's eyes were closed, and dark dried blood was on his face. Tony's face, as he cradled Rhodey's head, was a mask of devastation.

"Oh, surely not!" cried Thor, starting up.

" _The whole world was wrong about you,"_ said Tony's voice, and Bucky stood by Steve, both staring with wide eyes.

"Oh my God," said Steve. "Tell me that wasn't -"

Half a dozen armed men leaped from a truck, their weapons in front of them. The Black Widow sprang at them, knocking two of them over at once. No one even had the heart to cheer.

" _They're coming for you,"_ said Tony, standing next to Natasha at a window of the Avengers Facility ("Someone always is," said the real Natasha in the same hollow voice). There was a glimpse of her leaping to her feet after downing some enemy, and of Steve throwing his shield.

" _I'm not the one that needs to watch their back,"_ said Natasha, and she stalked away from the window leaving Tony to stare after her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rhodey with not a little apprehension.

" _This doesn't have to end in a fight, Tony,"_ said Steve's voice. Briefly, they saw him in a cozy-looking kitchen, and then in what looked like Bucky's holding place facing Tony, whose countenance was like grim death (even aside from the blackeye).

"What, being regulated?!" hissed the real Steve angrily.

Onscreen Tony struck Steve across the face so hard that Steve sailed across the floor (more than one of the real Avengers swore). Then the mask of the Suit came down, its eyes gleaming.

" _You just started a war!"_ barked Tony's voice.

"I don't want to!" pleaded the real Steve as if the onscreen billionaire could hear him.

And as before, a great many things flashed by all at once.

Iron Man flew through the air in some open place, shooting tiny missiles from his shoulders. Steve raced through a hallway, jumping up on one wall as the other exploded almost beside him ("Still hope that's not me," muttered the real Tony). Bucky tussled with the man in the black cat-headed suit, and when someone in a helicopter shot at the stranger the bullets all glanced off ("We've gotta find that guy!" said the real Natasha). Onscreen Natasha looked stricken; she stared down from some high place as the hangar of an airport went up in fire and smoke. Wanda forced the Vision to his knees, surrounding his body with a film of red energy ("Thought you two liked each other!" protested Sam). Clint drew his bow and shot, the arrowhead splitting into five separate pieces in midair, and on of the tips rode a perfect miniature of the man in the antennae-helmet, who somersaulted over the back of Tony's glove and ran up his arm ("Him too," said the real Natasha). A masked man in a grey uniform with a large white X printed across it punched Cap across an open fair ("I know him from somewhere!" huffed the real Steve).

Then Tony was standing in some dimly lit room, his hand held up with the palm out. " _Stay down,"_ he snapped. " _Final warning."_

"Am I actually gonna -" began the real Tony.

Onscreen Steve, obviously catching his breath, raised his fists under his helmeted chin. " _I can do this all day,"_ he panted.

"I always can," said the real Steve.

And then onscreen Steve had forced Tony to the wall and punched him with all his strength, knocking his head sideways.

The real Tony absent-mindedly rubbed the side of his neck with a wince.

On the open hangar, Steve ran forward with Clint and Bucky on either side and Sam and Wanda leaping into the air. Tony pushed off from the ground, Natasha running beside him and the cat-headed stranger running behind as Rhodey and Vision also lifted into the air. The two groups of Avengers (presumably) sped toward one another across the open ground, and just before they met the screen went dark.

"Can't believe we're actually trying to _kill_ each other," said Clint.

"Please say that's it!" said Rhodey.

And for a moment it looked like it was indeed over, until Tony's voice spoke again. " _Allright,"_ he snapped. " _I've run outta patience."_ He appeared on the screen with his gloved hands lifting to his mouth, his head uncovered for the moment. " _Underoos!"_ he called.

"Underoos? What -" the real Tony squinted.

Something gooey and white shot down from the air bound Steve's hands together, the shield sailing out of his grasp. A red-and-blue figure sailed through the air, caught the shield, and landed gracefully as as dancer on the roof of a nearby truck. It lifted its head, and they saw a suit that looked almost like a costume, with its blue tights, red boots, and red-and-black top. Black lines ran in crisscrossing patterns over the boots and top, and the shape of a black spider was stitched onto the chest. But most remarkable was the helmet, or head-covering, whichever it was, which had no visible openings for nose or mouth and very peculiar white pieces over the eyes which were ringed thickly with black.

"And who's this?" asked Clint.

"Nice suit! I make it?" the real Tony perked up again, looking rather pleased with himself.

" _Hey everyone!"_ said a shockingly young male voice, and the white eye-pieces narrowed.

"THAT'S A KID?!" Steve was nearly apoplectic with sudden rage. "WHO GETS A KID INVOLVED IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS?"

Then the screen went dark for good.

"Cap, Cap, Cap," Sam held out a steadying hand. "I think there's a whole lot we gotta process here. The kid can wait."

"Hopefully not for long," put in Tony.

Sam ignored him. "So this is something that conceivably _could_ happen," he said, pointing vaguely at the screen. "But does it _have_ to?"

* * *

 **My apologies again. Civil War trailer feels.**

 **By the way, if it looks like I was sparing with the reactions, I wasn't. Honestly, if you try to say all this during the time the trailer is actually playing, you won't be able to say it all without a lot overlapping. That's also the reason that I didn't try to put in all the details - they all just fly by so _fast_.**

 **Anyway, please review! Let me know whether or not I've compromised my integrity as a fanwriter :)**


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